Foundation for Exceptional Abilities and Talents

II. HALAL VERIFICATION

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Preamble

The answer to the question of undertaking halal beer development and marketing lies at the end of a chain of requirements and dependencies: political, religious, moral, cultural, traditional, scientific, artistic, marketing and strategic. The fact is: So far no one has succeeded... which is all the more astonishing when one considers that this magic formula would allow a gigantic market to be conquered. Many have already tried it – in vain! The key question is: where is the problem? Well, FEAT has uniquely solved it – first time! Subsequent chapter provides excerpts of information on how FEAT overcame these hurdles. So, who ever succeeds in making the first big hit creating securely Koranic halal beer and then making it accessible to the 1.x billion Muslims in the world, he would undoubtedly be the supreme king among the kings of beer. FEAT has taken on this challenge! 

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Art. 1

Basics

First and foremost, the halal beer goal formula is based on the importance of the clarity of bottom-fermented, filtered beers beyond the best-before date. This alone presents virtually every brewery in the world with almost insurmountable challenges. In addition, in the course of the globalization, concentrations on large corporations, above all, make the distribution channels longer and longer, while the requirements for the shelf life of beers are always higher. For example, the colloidal stability (resistance of the beer against the formation of colloidal turbidity) should be indispensably guaranteed, which makes brewing all the more difficult because brewers are increasingly driven by market-strategic criteria to maintain their brand or constantly upgrading the production of as natural a beer as possible in a competitive way. This applies specially to declining beer markets. Beers should therefore be able to maintain their clarity for months, which would be possible with appropriate stabilizers. However, this would at the same time involve the loss of physiologically relevant beer ingredients (e.g. polyphenols) with quality-reducing side effect. Furthermore, no one has yet come to terms with how a necessary prediction model could be developed for this, which would make the required long-term stability calculable. Consequently, breweries all over brew and taste blind, which in turn leads to frequent overstabilization of the beers. This is therefore not only nutritionally undesirable, but also associated with significantly higher costs.

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Art. 2

Polyphenols

Polyphenols are sometimes the most important influencer of beer quality. In addition, their diverse, health-promoting properties have a high nutritional status. Polyphenols are attributed with antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antithrombotic, antiallergic, immunomodulating, blood pressure controlling and blood sugar regulating effects. The flavonoids among them have a special meaning. As radical scavengers they are capable of trapping reactive oxygen species that would otherwise (under certain conditions) lead to oxidative stress in the body. Diseases associated with oxidative stress include cardiovascular diseases and cancers, as well as diabetes and age-related eye diseases. Antioxidants also prevent the oxidation of dietary LDL cholesterol and thus inhibit the formation of calcium deposits on the vessel walls (arteriosclerosis). In addition, epidemiological studies suggest a lower rate of fatal myocardial infarction with higher levels of flavanol intake. Finally, polyphenols are able to hinder various forms of cancer in their development process.  They are health miracle cureand are among natural products from food and beverages, which are even used for chemoprevention measures as a so-called "cancer brake". Also, in every cancer development phase (Initiation→ Promotion→ Progression), polyphenols can help the human body to slow down or even halt disease processes. As antipromoters, they protect DNA from radical attack by reactive oxygen, inducing certain enzymes that protect against cell degeneration, promote normal cell division and maturation, and ultimately inhibit the growth of cancer cells that have already erupted.

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Art. 3

Glossiness vs. beer turbidity

The main haze formers are condensing polyphenols, as these (together with proteins) are too happy to undergo precipitation reactions. Furthermore, polysaccharides have been detected in beer turbidity, together with minerals or metal ions, to name just the most important elements. Their concentrations in beers usually depend on the particular raw materials from which the beer is brewed. At least as important are the respective manufacturing processes as well as the technological know-how and technical infrastructure of each brewery itself. In addition to the concentrations of the aforementioned groups of substances, the other influencing factors are above all the pH and ethanol content, as well as temperature, brew kit – and light! Also, excessive oxygen loading significantly contributes to the deterioration of colloidal stability in bottled beers. This is mainly due to the oxidation and polymerization of phenols with low molecular weights, which react as a result of polyphenols with higher molecular weights as well as protein-precipitating polyphenols, the so-called tannins. 

 

Not insignificantly, the redox potential (resistance - through reduction - against oxidative oxygen influence of the beer) also plays a role here. Above all, the optimization of colloidal stability on a natural as well as technological path is important, which means that the use of stabilizing agents can be minimized, at best completely avoided, with the help of targeted raw material selection and process technology. No less important is the development of a so-called predictable model for calculable turbidity formation. For this purpose, it would be necessary above all to include or exclude the variety of turbidity-forming substances, together with their factors influencing their kinetics, after they have been calculated or made calculable. Although there are already a number of successful Forcier tests for bottled beers, the results of which are quite realistic, which, however, no longer interfere with the filtration and stabilization process. 

 

For this reason, it is important to quantify the turbidity relevant parameters already in the unfiltrate, in order to be able to prevent quality reducing and costly blind stabilization. Worth mentioning is perhaps the HPLC analysis to determine turbidity-relevant polyphenols, which FEAT could expand to comprehensively detect all phenolic acids and precisely selected hop constituents, to gain even deeper insight into changes during the brewing process. This would allow us to decisively extend our influence on the colloidal stability of the beers. Above all, the correct measure for the reduction of phenolic and partly nutritionally relevant substances has to be determined, which could be done in different ways, such as specially developed stabilization mechanisms. Furthermore, in the context of protein analysis, newer methods have been suggested with which the turbidity-forming proteins which are extremely difficult to classify could be recorded in a specified form. Here, the redox potential of the beer measured by means of an electrochemical method would be useful for learning more about the relationship between the reductions occurring in the beer and the amount of oxygen absorbed at the same time, i.e. via their complementary influence on the colloidal stability of the beer. For the first time, FEAT will record both the obligatory and the potential turbidity formers in order to be able to prove algorithmically and differentially all the influence factors on turbidity formation. The result would be a mathematical prediction model, which then uses interrogative statistical programs to examine those parameters for simplifying match characteristics that correlate with the best before date for colloidal stability in bottled beer. 

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Art. 4

Colloids

Colloids have a hazy, glue-like quality (kóllain Greek = glue, eidos= form). In contrast, a colloidal system corresponds to a so-called dispersed phase (solids, air, water, etc.). In a dispersion medium (usually air or water), these are evenly distributed. Colloidal systems are subdivided into three groups depending on the type of binding between the atoms of the colloidal particles: 

1. Dispersion colloids (e.g. mineral colloids in water); 

2. Molecular colloids (e.g. polymers and natural organic macromolecules); 

1. Association colloids (surfactants, detergents, etc).
    

More detailed variants, however, are classified according to the following criteria:

• number of chain links, 

• state of aggregation of the dispersed substance and the dispersing agent, 

• geometrical dimensions and particle shapes, 

• chemical compounds and origin, 

• behavior towards the dispersant, 

• any recoverability from the colloidal state,

• Removal of the respective dispersant.

 

According to the IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, founded in 1919 by chemists from industry and universities) colloids are defined as objects in a range between at least 1 nanometer and at most 1 micrometer. Furthermore, colloidal systems are characterized by uniform distribution, which does not change over a defined period of observation, provided that they are considered stabilized by Brownian motion. Colloidal beer stability, also known as chemical-physical stability, means resistance of filtered beers to colloidal haze formation. It is divided into two outward forms:

1. Reversible cold turbidity (generated in the temperature range between -8 °C and +5 °C, dissolves after heating to 20 °C or more).

2. Irreversible permanent turbidity (temperature-stable).

The reversibility of the cold turbidity is due to the relatively weak binding of hydrogen bonds or hydrophobic bonds between the beer turbidity components, whereas irreversible persistent turbidity presupposes oxidation together with formation of covalent bonds, which usually leads to the formation of larger particles. A useful alternative to colloidal stability in bottled beers would be, for example, the use of malt surrogates (corn, rice, wheat, barley, rye, spelt, corn syrup, etc.) to reduce the protein content of the beers. However, this would no longer comply with the Beer Purity Law. So far, controversial relationships between turbidity and alcohol could lead to greater clarity in such a way that higher alcohol levels primarily affect the cold stability of beers, due to the dehydrating effect on beer proteins. If there is also a desire to eliminate turbidity-sensitive proteins, this could be done, for example, using silica gel, which would at the same time also reduce the influence of alcohol. The relationship between alcohol content and turbidity stability is therefore strongly attributable to the interaction with turbidity-relevant proteins. Accordingly, the alcohol-related influence increases by reducing the polyphenols, after which they no longer act as binding partners for the proteins.

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Art. 5

Relevance of hops

Two major end products are the major result of the widely practiced ethanol extraction from hops. One of these already finds efficient use, while the other (so far) has to be classified as a waste product. The former is known as pure resin extract and contains the non-polar components (bitter substances, essential oils, etc.). The latter contains almost all hop polyphenols - except the prenylflavonoids - and passes as waste into the polar tannin extract. Due to lack of scientific knowledge, these highest-value hop polyphenols from hop ethanol extraction are disposed of completely unused, as still no use for this can be found in the brewing process. FEAT has addressed successfully this problem or potential. Undisputedly, it would be most meaningful to use these hop tannin extracts specifically for improving colloidal beer stability. This could be done, for example, before and during the wort boiling process, which, in contrast to the tannins (gallotannins) obtained by the use of galls*, would comply with the Beer Purity Law. (* Term for tree 'fruit' from the species Rhus semialata and Quercus infectoria). FEAT is considering breeding a corresponding variety of hops, whose polyphenols could be used for the colloidal stability of bottled beers. Only their tremendous power and diversity of human health promotion are considered. This is an important auxiliary argument in the course of Halal certification. 

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Art. 6

Conclusions and Outlook

In the course of Halal Beer Production by FEAT, the technological process has been improved with the help of targeted raw material selection insofar as the foreseeable turbidity formation stabilized beers in a more gentle, flexible and efficient way. In addition to the much-desired colloidal shelf life, this will also benefit beer quality and, moreover, will entail great cost-cutting potential. The fact is: the higher the efficiency of new measures applied to the above-mentioned production results, the closer/easier the goal is achieved: production of high-quality, healthy and enjoyable Halal beers, full of nutritional physiological, health-promoting substances, in the hands, or mouths and stomachs, of 1.x billion Muslims thirsty for beer! This is a whole new market that is going to revolutionize the world a little bit perhaps. Regardless of the goals outlined above, the nutritional influence of genetic engineering changes was considered in all aspects. With this research enterprise, the originality of naturally pure resource extraction and processing in the sense of human nutrition is also inseparably connected. As they say: “Eating and drinking keep body and soul together” – this is how everyone’s natural food culture is responsible for their health. Where this is lacking, for example due to our genetically modified menu, illness and sometimes agonizing death arise. So, if a completely new food comes on the market thanks to FEAT, this health claim will come true!​